


Revert

by babybluebutterfly



Category: Layton Kyouju Series | Professor Layton Series
Genre: AU, Angst, Anxiety, Breathplay if you squint really hard, Crying, Drama, He gets rekt, Henry Ledore tries, I also cried so enjoy, M/M, Men Crying, Mental Health Issues, Not literally, Post-Canon, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-08
Updated: 2017-08-08
Packaged: 2018-12-12 20:08:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,197
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11744262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/babybluebutterfly/pseuds/babybluebutterfly
Summary: “1, 2, 3, 4. It's good to see you again, Ledore.”Facing away from the tall attic window, he sat upon an old, dusty crate. Moonlight lit his form from behind, giving him a disturbing, ethereal glow. Dressed in white, he almost looked like a ghost. But by far, the most haunting part of his attire was the false, burnished golden smile of The Gentleman's mask.





	Revert

“1, 2, 3, 4. It's good to see you again, Ledore.”

Facing away from the tall attic window, he sat upon an old, dusty crate. Moonlight lit his form from behind, giving him a disturbing, ethereal glow. Dressed in white, he almost looked like a ghost. But by far, the most haunting part of his attire was the false, burnished golden smile of The Gentleman's mask. 

  


It seemed to be almost mocking Henry from where he stood across the room. 

  


Months had passed since the Masked Gentleman's final dark miracle, and the aftermath of the terrifying event was still visible throughout the city, yet it was encounters like this that left Henry Ledore shaken the most. Perhaps it was knowing that made it so much worse. Knowing that behind the scenes, the pawn in The Gentleman's performance was his dearest friend and love; and that Randall was no longer the one pulling the strings.

  


Incidents such as these had begun not long ago, where Randall would switch, as he called it, back into his Masked Gentleman persona. No one, not even Randall himself, could understand or justify why or by what it was caused. The only comprehensible theory anyone could think of was that it was some kind of coping mechanism, to deal with the stress and trauma caused by Descole’s cruel manipulation, as well as the aftermath of guilt. The key seemed to be the mask. In times of stress, Randall would search frantically for it, even going as far as to tear up suspect rooms in his pursuit. If he couldn't find it, he crouched against walls or in corners, covering his face in presumed imitation of the absent artefact; if he did, then he would run off and, more often than not, switch. In either circumstance, it would take both Henry and Angela to calm him down. Tonight was the second of two instances where Randall’s alternate identity had taken over, and it was as if the red-headed man Henry had seen only hours earlier had been replaced by this silvery creature.

  


The Gentleman stood suddenly, twirling his cane around skillfully before bringing it down sharply onto the wooden floor with a bang, making Henry jolt. He took a few steps forward, and Henry felt that for each one of them, he wanted to take ten steps back. His legs wouldn't co-operate. The Masked Gentleman stood before him, staring with cold, unblinking, black slits and that ever-present smile. 

  


Despite the deafening gallop of his heart, Henry managed to speak.

  


“Randall. Please take off the mask.”

  


A simple request, but even to him, it sounded like a plea. Henry could have sworn the mask’s smile grew. 

  


When The Gentleman neither responded nor moved, Henry reached up hesitantly to pull the mask from his face. He was suspicious, to say the least. It was never this easy, and he feared that at any moment his hand would be swatted away. The last incident like this had ended in aggressive dispute. When, in a blur of movement, Henry found his wrists restrained harshly in a tight grip, his worry began to give way to a deep, irrepressible panic.

  


The Masked Gentleman laughed.

  


“Not so fast, Henry.”

  


He twisted Henry's hands back painfully. Henry bit his lip to stifle a cry of pain, wincing and trying to pull himself away, but to no avail. Eighteen years working on a farm had given Randall more strength than Henry's eighteen years of taxes.

  


“Perhaps your precious little  _ boyfriend _ would let you take away what is rightfully mine, but not me.” The Gentleman continued.

  


Henry felt his heartbeat quicken further. The Gentleman had struck a chord with that, and Henry froze up like a deer in the headlights. The anxiety hit like a wave, dashing him to pieces against the rocks of his terrified thoughts. 

  


“Given up already, have we?” The Masked Gentleman asked, smugly “Truly pathetic, Henry.”

  


A swift, harsh shove backwards followed. Henry landed gracelessly on his back with a hard thud, gasping for air, winded. The Gentleman watched him from above, tilting his masked face to one side in a childish expression of curiosity. Henry tried to speak, his voice coming out in hoarse gasps.

  


“Ra-Randa-ll…” was all he managed to blurt out before a boot came down sharply on his chest, pressing against him and rendering his attempts to regain his breath fruitless.

  


“You play the victim  _ so very well _ . I'm rather impressed. I won't fall for your manipulation, though. Not this time.” 

  


The boot was relieved from Henry's chest, and its owner knelt down beside him as sucked in deep breaths of air. All Henry could do was stare into the face of his worst fear as he lay there. Utterly helpless. Meanwhile The Masked Gentleman positively giggled at Henry's incapacitated condition. It was as if, for him, this was all just some sadistic game, and Henry was his favourite plaything. Henry couldn't possibly hope to reason with him, or understand his twisted thought process. He needed to get through to Randall. Somehow.

  


Deft fingers tried to reach for the mask again, only to be slammed to the ground.

  


The Gentleman tutted. He wrapped his hands around Henry's chin tightly, lifting him into a standing position like a trophy. He held him there, leaning in close. Close enough for Henry to see every detail of the mask, brilliantly reflecting the moonlight. Close enough, also, to see behind the mask. He met Randall's eyes, glazed and dormant, and for just a moment, he thought he felt the gloved hand on his chin loosen. 

  


The Masked Gentleman then gave a low growl of frustration, tightening his grip once more. The brief glimpse of hope Henry had found just as quickly vanished as The Gentleman began to speak once more.

  


“1, 2, 3, 4. I'm afraid you'll find dear Randall is no more. It would do you  _ good _ to remember that.” 

  


Acid coated each one of his words, and their cruel meaning burrowed into Henry's mind, bringing forth another wave of fear, leaving him writhing in the throes of an anxiety attack. Pained tears stung at his eyes, blurring everything in his vision except for the man before him. The next blow was physical, a knee to the stomach, sending Henry falling the rest of the short distance between The Gentleman and the door from which he entered. 

  


“Such a shame for you. Losing him again so soon after you  _ found _ him.” The Masked Gentleman said, his tone biting and cruel.

  


Then, like an afterthought, he added “I doubt he'd miss you, though.”

  


Henry couldn't take any more. He has been whipped up by the violent lashes of emotional turmoil, and his head was now spinning; a feather in a hurricane. 

  


Weak.

Scared.

He felt so small.

  
His legs seemed almost to move on their own, picking him up and carrying himself out of the room. He didn't bother to try and hide his fear any more. As he shut the door behind him, he got one last glimpse of the mask, and that giddy, insane smile, shining and standing out like a beacon of horror in the night.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! There was an annoying lack of fanfiction for this fandom, my latest obsession, so I decided to write something! Kudos and comments always appreciated!
> 
> Edit:  
> This story was based on an AU my friend Eli and I came up with! Just today, they wrote an incredible fanfiction for this AU, so please go check it out here:  
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/11752509  
> They mentioned that they might be writing a companion fic for this story, so I might just write one for theirs, with their permission!


End file.
